On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c23.s4.2

v2.c23.s4.2

The discription then continues. Eastward from this you enter the Tsung Ling (Onion Range) which is the centre of Jambudvipa; on the south this Range connects with the Great Snow Mountains (the Hindu Kūsh), on the north it reaches to the "Hot sea" and "Thousand Springs", on the west to the Huoh country, and on the east to Wu-sha (烏鎩); in each direction it is some thousands of li and it has some hundreds of cliffs and ridges in a series with sombre inaccessible defiles; here frozen snow was perpetually accumulated and cold winds blew fiercely; the soil produced numerous onions, and hence the name; but according to another opinion the name was derived from the onion-blue hue of the cliffs.